A California firefighter has been arrested and accused of setting five blazes in the state's wine country, even as his fellow firefighters battle flames that have consumed almost a million acres and forced thousands of evacuations in the state this year.

A Cal Fire firefighting engineer accused of sparking at least five fires in Northern California forest lands was arrested Friday by investigators.

Robert Hernandez, 38, a Cal Fire fire apparatus engineer, was arrested and charged with six felonies, including arson during a state of emergency.

Cal Fire said apparatus engineer Robert Hernandez ignited the blazes while off duty between Aug. 14 and Sept. 15 in forest land near Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.

He is accused of starting multiple blazes while off duty, all in Sonoma County - the Alexander Fire on August 15; the Windsor River Road Fire on September 8; the Geysers Fire on September 12; and the Geyser and Kinley fires on September 14.

A forestry fire engineer was arrested in California Friday, charged with starting five wildfires from Aug. 15 to Sept. 14 in Sonoma County.

A California firefighter has been arrested after allagedly starting five wildfires in the state's north. Robert Hernandez, 38, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of "arson to forest land" after he allegedly started the blazes in Northern California,